Pennock Island

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Pennock Island

Pennock Island is located in the U.S. state of Alaska near the city of Ketchikan. The island is situated within the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and is part of the Alexander Archipelago. Most of the island is public land managed by the Tongass National Forest. [1]

U.S. state constituent political entity of the United States

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

Alaska State of the United States of America

Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east and southeast. Its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

Ketchikan, Alaska City in Alaska, United States

Ketchikan is a city in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost city in Alaska. With a population at the 2010 census of 8,050, it is the fifth-most populous city in the state, and tenth-most populous community when census-designated places are included. The surrounding borough, encompassing suburbs both north and south of the city along the Tongass Highway, plus small rural settlements accessible mostly by water, registered a population of 13,477 in that same census. Estimates put the 2017 population at 13,754 people. Incorporated on August 25, 1900, Ketchikan is the earliest extant incorporated city in Alaska, because consolidation or unification elsewhere in Alaska resulted in dissolution of those communities' city governments. Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island, so named in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver.

Contents

Geography

Pennock Island lies between Gravina Island and Revillagigedo Island at the eastern end of Tongass Narrows, dividing the waterway into its East and West Channels. [2] It measures about 3 miles (4.8 km) in length east and west, and from 0.25–0.625 miles (0.402–1.006 km) in width. It is rather low and wooded; its south shore is steep. California Rock is about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the east end of the island. East Clump islet is situated off the island's west end. Peninsula Point, which is west of Pennock, is the eastern entrance point to Ward Cove. [3] Pennock reef extends to a length of 0.7 miles (1.1 km) into the Tongass Narrows and is 0.7 miles (1.1 km) to the south west of Ketchikan, [2] opposite its downtown. The village of Pennock is located near Whiskey Cove, across from the Coast Guard Station Ketchikan. [4] [2] [5] A few houses are tucked within the thick wooded forest; there is minimal human habitation. [6] [7]

Gravina Island island in the United States of America

Gravina Island is an island in the Gravina Islands of the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. It is 21 miles (34 km) long and about 9.5 miles (15.3 km) wide, with a land area of 94.81 square miles (245.6 km2). The island had a population of 50 people at the 2000 census.

Revillagigedo Island island in the United States of America

Revillagigedo Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km (50 mi) north-south and 48 km (35 mi) east-west, it is 2,754.835 km² (1,063.65 mi²) in area, making it the 12th largest island in the United States and the 167th largest island in the world. Its center is located near 55°38′03″N131°17′51″W.

Tongass Narrows channel in Alaska, U.S.

Tongass Narrows is a Y-shaped channel, part of Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage. The waterway forms part of the Alaska Marine Highway and as such, is used by charter, commercial fishing, and recreational vessels, as well as commercial freight barges and tanks, kayaks and passenger ferries.

History

It was named for the prospector Homer Pennock, around 1895 by Captain W.E. George, a local pilot. [2] The ancestral tribal burial ground of the Taan ta Kwaan (Tongass people) and the Sanyaa Kwáan (Cape Fox people) are located on Pennock Island. [8] The island is set in Tongass Narrows, which became the subject of national controversy over the Gravina Island Bridge proposal, criticized as the "bridge to nowhere". [9]

The Gravina Island Bridge, commonly referred to as the "Bridge to Nowhere", was a proposed bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects the town of Ketchikan, Alaska, United States, with Gravina Island, an island that contains the Ketchikan International Airport as well as 50 residents. The bridge was projected to cost $398 million. Members of the Alaskan congressional delegation, particularly Representative Don Young and Senator Ted Stevens, were the bridge's biggest advocates in Congress, and helped push for federal funding. The project encountered fierce opposition outside Alaska as a symbol of pork barrel spending and is labeled as one of the more prominent "bridges to nowhere". As a result, Congress removed the federal earmark for the bridge in 2005. Funding for the "Bridge to Nowhere" was continued as of March 2, 2011, in the passing of H.R. 662: Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011 by the House of Representatives, and finally cancelled in 2015.

Bridge to nowhere

A bridge to nowhere is a bridge where one or both ends are broken or incomplete and does not lead anywhere. If it is an overpass or an interchange, the term overpass to nowhere or interchange to nowhere may be used respectively. There are three main origins for these bridges:

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.%±
1940 79—
1970 78—
1980 9015.4%
U.S. Decennial Census [10]

Pennock Island first appeared on the 1940 U.S. Census as an unincorporated settlement. It did not appear again until 1970. It was made a census-designated place (CDP) in 1980, but was dissolved in 1990 and has not appeared on the census separately since.

Sports event

Pennock Island is the venue for the annual "Pennock Island Challenge" swim race which was started in 2004. The event is held to raise funds for the JDRF. The race course covers a distance of 8.2 miles (13.2 km) in a circular pattern around the rugged island. Events consist of solo race, relay race, wet suit and non-wet suit teams. Escort boats and kayak escorts are essential. Swimmers participating in the race are cold water specialists as water temperature during the race is likely to be between 55–60 °F (13–16 °C). The 2013 event was held on 4 August. The winner of the race is awarded a certificate recording the time and place and also awarded a medal. [5]

JDRF A major charitable 501(c)(3) organization formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and dedicated to funding type 1 diabetes research

JDRF is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that funds type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and advocates for regulation favorable to medical research and that makes it easier to market new medical devices. It was formerly called the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

See also

Related Research Articles

Southeast Alaska

Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United States' largest national forest. In many places, the international border runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The region is noted for its scenery and mild rainy climate.

Juneau, Alaska State capital city and borough in Alaska, United States

The City and Borough of Juneau, commonly known as Juneau, is the capital city of Alaska. It is a unified municipality on Gastineau Channel in the Alaskan panhandle, and it is the second largest city in the United States by area. Juneau has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of what was the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1, 1970, when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current municipality, which is larger by area than both Rhode Island and Delaware.

Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska Borough in the U.S. of Alaska

Ketchikan Gateway Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,477. The borough seat is Ketchikan.

Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area, Alaska Census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska

Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,559. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest communities are Craig and Metlakatla. It was formerly part of the Census Bureau's Prince of Wales–Outer Ketchikan Census Area, but the name was changed in 2008 after most of the Outer Ketchikan was lost to annexation by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough.

Saxman, Alaska City in Alaska, United States

Saxman is a city on Revillagigedo Island in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in southeastern Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 411, down from 431 in 2000. The city of Ketchikan lies just to its northwest.

Metlakatla, Alaska CDP in Alaska, United States

Metlakatla is a census-designated place (CDP) on Annette Island in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,375; this had grown to 1,405 by the 2010 census.

Mendenhall Glacier glacier in the United States

Mendenhall Glacier is a glacier about 13.6 miles (21.9 km) long located in Mendenhall Valley, about 12 miles (19 km) from downtown Juneau in the southeast area of the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier and surrounding landscape is protected as part of the 5,815 acres (2,353 ha) Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, a federally designated unit of the Tongass National Forest.

Ketchikan International Airport

Ketchikan International Airport is a state-owned, public-use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) west of the central business district of Ketchikan, a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in Alaska that has no direct road access to the outside world or to the airport. The airport is located on Gravina Island, just west of Ketchikan on the other side of the Tongass Narrows. Passengers must take a seven-minute ferry ride across the water to get to the airport from the town.

Ward Cove, Alaska Unincorporated community in Alaska, United States

Ward Cove is an unincorporated community in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States. Its elevation is 164 feet (50 m). Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 99928.

Cape Fox Village is a locality in Southeast Alaska near present-day Ketchikan. It is the site of a former village called Gaash of the Cape Fox people of the Tlingit. The location of the village is on the east side of Revillagigedo Channel, four miles south of Boca de Quadra. The name was recorded in 1880 by Ivan Petroff during the 10th Census, who reported 100 Tlingit still living there. Many native artifacts were taken from this area during early American and European exploration of Alaska, and many of these items have since been returned, including a totem pole that had been on display at Field Museum in Chicago.

The Gravina Island Highway is a 3.2-mile-long (5.1 km) gravel highway located on Gravina Island, in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. The highway was part of a project that would connect Gravina Island, specifically, the Ketchikan International Airport, to the city of Ketchikan. The Gravina Island Bridge, which would have connected the highway to Ketchikan was cancelled, but the highway was built. Because the highway does not pass by or connect to any village or other place of importance, it has been nicknamed the Highway to Nowhere.

Loring, Alaska Census-designated place in Alaska, United States

Loring was established in 1885 with the first post office in the District of Alaska and is a census-designated place (CDP) in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 4 at the 2010 census, although the number increases in summer months.

George Inlet is a bay in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated within the Alexander Archipelago at the southern shore of Revillagigedo Island. It was named by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey in 1880 after pilot W. E. George, who created the first sketch of Revillagigedo Channel and Tongass Narrows.

Ward Cove is a bay in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated about 5 miles (8.0 km) to the westward of Ketchikan off the western coast of Revillagigedo Island within the Alexander Archipelago. The town of Ward Cove is located on the waterway. It is a small bay on the northern shore of Tongass Narrows. Ward Cove Stream empties into the head of the cove, and is the outlet to a chain of lakes. It flows in a fairly straight course in a southerly direction over rocky bottom, with a rapid current throughout its length, between high bluff banks well wooded. Tide water extends a short distance within the mouth. The stream water is fairly clear. It is about .75 miles (1.21 km) long, and 300 feet (91 m) below the lake, has a width of 20 feet (6.1 m) and a depth of 0.75 feet (0.23 m), and a 3-knot current.

Ketchikan Creek

Ketchikan Creek is a waterway on Revillagigedo Island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It heads in a lake and travels 6 miles (9.7 km) to Tongass Narrows. The historic Creek Street in Ketchikan runs along the creek banks as a piling-perched boardwalk.

References

  1. ↑ Third Annual Pennock Island Challenge Raises Funds for the American Diabetes Association, Stories in the News, Aug. 31, 2006
  2. 1 2 3 4 Orth 1967, p. 748.
  3. ↑ Mendenhall 1891, pp. 100-101.
  4. ↑ Carroll, Tony (January 3, 2006). "Angoon still searching for missing man". Juneau Empire. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Pennock Island Challenge". Active Network. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  6. ↑ Thompson 2008, p. 158.
  7. ↑ Gabon 2009, p. 149.
  8. ↑ "Ketchikan bridge is desecration bridge". Juneau Empire . May 20, 2005. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  9. ↑ Utt, Ronald D. (October 20, 2005). "The Bridge to Nowhere: A National Embarrassment". WebMemo #889 on Federal Budget. Heritage Foundation . Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
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Coordinates: 55°19′11″N131°37′41″W / 55.319719999999997°N 131.62806°W / 55.319719999999997; -131.62806

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